The great news is that we have an extraordinary new Odette/Odile in Devon Teuscher. The bad news is that she has proven herself to be so good on her first three outings in the iconic role that she will invariably and terminally be saddled with ABT’s weakest Siegfrieds. That’s the McKenzie strategy. Put the great with the weak and it will all balance out and make money. Balletomanes need to stomp out this practice. Going forward, keep the wallets closed.
Also, ABT’s current strategy of completely closing off online ticket sales in the family circle, balcony, balcony boxes, and dress circle boxes so as to try to force people to purchase more expensive tickets must be stopped. ABT is reinforcing the unfortunate stereotype that ballet is elitist - just for those with the money to squander foolishly on the poor views from the Met’s orchestra seating. Going forward, balletomanes should keep their wallets closed if ABT refuses to sell seats within the customer’s budget.
Just a few words about Siegfried before we move on to what was a truly wonderful performance. First thing that came to mind was where in the heck was Blaine Hoven? Alex Hammoudi gave perhaps his worst technical and artistic performance in a principal role that we have ever seen from him. Is he injured again? Did he perhaps dance because if he hadn’t, there was no one to step in to dance with Devon who would have then lost her opportunity? We don’t know. If that’s the case, we thank him. If it’s not the case, he needs to get away from McKenzie to clear his mind of its performance anxiety. Please - do not let the world lose another potentially great dancer because he chokes when it comes time to deliver difficult technique. When a dancer excels under Ratmansky but crumbles under McKenzie as does Hammoudi, the source of the problem becomes clear.
While we may well have to amend our assessment after tonight’s performance, as of yesterday Devon Teuscher is the most exceptional Odette/Odile that ABT has put on the stage since Veronika Part. And oh how lucky we are to have two such different interpretations of the role - with perhaps still another one coming tonight.
Devon's bold, high-octane interpretation of Odette was exhilarating from her first entrance onto the stage with a beautiful grand jete. This was a highly distressed but beautiful bird. While Veronika emphasizes Odette’s vulnerability, Devon brought out the character’s anguish and torment. Her feathers were ruffled, no doubt about it. The desperation was so great that we feared she might be ready to jump off the cliff as soon as she landed her first jete. She wasn’t just initially afraid of Siegfried; she was terrified. Lord only knows how she had been victimized by von Rothbart for all those years, but we can imagine. Her soul was scarred but her will to survive was strong.
Through gorgeous, gorgeous detailing of Odette – flashing eyes, the tilt of the head, the slight flip of a wrist, the sudden stillness while perched on pointe, giant wings fluttering against fate — this creature’s adrenaline was palpable. We’ve all witnessed an injured bird valiantly struggling for life – it pulls at the heartstrings every time. Such was our Odette yesterday afternoon.
Devon’s Odile was as predatory as we have ever seen this character. Alluring, ruthless, joyous in being reckless with Siegfried’s heart. Time and time again, Odile thrilled with her haughty, brazen, shameless seduction of the clueless prince. When it was time to put him away, she did so with a blistering series of 16 double revolution fouettes followed by 16 singles. As they travelled downstage, Haglund thought, “OMG, she’s coming after us!” There was no where to hide. We just had to hope that she was bluffing. Thank goodness Conductor David LaMarche stopped her in the nick of time.
Haglund may be in the minority, but he loved the tempi in yesterday’s performance. LaMarche had a close eye on Devon all afternoon long and really gave her everything she needed to push her performance to its limit. In Act III, LaMarche’s violinist went awry dreadfully and at times part of the orchestra wasn’t paying attention to his conducting. But he was paying attention to what was going on on the stage and making lightning fast adjustments when needed. The energy in the ABT orchestra at the matinee was unusually high. We just wish all of the musicians had been on their toes as well as Devon was on hers.
There were other big successes in this performance. Calvin Royal III’s handsome von Rothbart was vastly stronger than at his debut in Washington, DC during the winter. The character was conniving and malevolent with fabulous dynamics. The lingering balance on demi-pointe eluded him once again, however. Even when one leg is rising up, the balance is still done with both legs. Yesterday afternoon it wasn’t. He’s got to work on this, because when he finally gets it, those impossibly long legs of his will literally stop. the. show. Period.
Tom Forster’s opposite-of-handsome von Rothbart sort of had our sympathies. Everyone deserves to have a love in life, even the ugly monsters. That he picked our Odette shows that he had very good taste. It is way past time for us to see Forster in big prince roles. He should have been brought up to Siegfried this year with Blaine Hoven.
McKenzie is alone in his thinking that dancers have to stew for a decade in low levels of the company before they are ready for principal roles. It simply elevates the probability of injury when dancers are forced to pull full loads as corps or soloists for years and then finally given a principal role that they were equipped to dance five years before. By the time they arrive at the principal roles, yeah, they have years of drudging experience along with a proneness for injury and scars from earlier injuries. People like Forster, Hoven, Gorak, Klein, Brandt, Lane, Trenary, Shevchenko, Teuscher, Ogawa, Frenette should all be on a principal tract that preserves their well-being in addition to giving them growing opportunities. And why the helk aren’t we seeing more of Marshall Whiteley. When he sauntered out on stage, he looked like the Siegfried we should have had. His arms looked much less like hockey sticks, his basic corps work (double saute de basques, pirouettes, leaps) was all done as cleanly if not more so that the rest of the corpsmen, and his jumps have such plush to them. His theatrical weight suggests a potential heavyweight stage champ. We have no real idea what his technical level is, but we do know that he’s got what it takes to dance Albrecht - because there is evidence online.
Our Pas de Trois crew was Zhong-Jing Fang, April Giangeruso, and Zhiyao Zhang, and they did a fine job. When Fang can control her proclivity for staccato-izing everything, she is quite lovely. But, jeezel pete, this has been going on for well over a decade. Move her up, make her change or move her out. Giangeruso was much better in the PdT than in her Odalisque work in Le Corsaire where her arms behind her shoulders undermined her stability and pirouettes. Zhang is likeable, has good elevation and consistent turns, but his theatrical weight is pretty light. To say that he outshined Hammoudi yesterday isn’t necessarily saying a lot.
Gabe Stone Shayer and Jonathan Klein danced an excellent Neapolitan - but for Klein’s shoe heel coming loose.
Katherine Williams and Melanie Hamrick danced well as the two big swans. Melanie’s jump soared. Her work all season has been better than we’ve ever seen it. Katherine was lovely but her arms and shoulders still have a student-ish look to them instead of elegance and maturity.
ABT’s strategy that when a mediocre corps dancer finally quits to go into administration, it is the prime time to put that person back on stage as a principal character artist, has always been troubling. It stems from the days when Lucia Chase insisted on playing the Queen Mother. By the way, when Haglund first saw Swan Lake (Cynthia Gregory’s debut year), Ms. Chase descended the staircase in Act I like (LOL) she owned the place. When she looked the princesses up and down, they were authentically nervous about the impression they were making. It was a very rich scene, indeed. But Clinton Luckett and Kate Lydon as Wolfgang and Mother just do not make things tick.
Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, Manolo Blahnik Odile First Position Trophy, is bestowed upon Devon Teuscher for her outstanding performance.
I just saw that they are selling Standing Room seats in the Family Circle. Talk about separating the haves and the have-nots! I hope the ushers take pity on these people and let them sit down, and don't lose their jobs over it.
Posted by: Angelica | June 15, 2017 at 02:52 PM
I was shocked at Wednesday afternoon's performance when I saw that only part of the middle section of family circle was sold, and that there were significant corner pockets in the balcony and dress circle that were unsold. The online misrepresentation on the website had been that they were sold out. Ditto with the side boxes although I know of one person who was able to get a DC box seat by walking up to the window. So, available online and at the window are different these days????
Posted by: Haglund | June 15, 2017 at 03:00 PM
A Customer Care person at the Met just told me that those sections are completely sold out for tonight. So it would appear that the online and in-person availability is different. And into which category do telephone sales fall? I didn't think to ask that of the rep. Whose cockamamie idea was that?
Posted by: Angelica | June 15, 2017 at 03:22 PM
I don't think as of yesterday, family circle and balcony were even listed online for Sarah's performance tonight. Now Balcony is sold out and Family Circle is very full!! I wasn't sure if those sections just weren't even open at all? Or if they just were trying to avoid online customers buying cheaper seats until the last day?
Posted by: Catherine | June 15, 2017 at 03:24 PM
Thanks for the review, Haglund. Exciting news about Teuscher's debut. It's sad to hear about Hammoudi.
You're the first person I've heard mention Ogawa, yet I notice her whenever she is onstage for her beautiful lines and clarity of movement.
Posted by: Daisy | June 15, 2017 at 04:57 PM
Glad to hear about Marshall W. as you know he was on my one to watch list before I moved north. Generally what's going on at ABT with the men (other than Marcelo, David and Herman of course). There was such a deep bench a few years ago and now it seems they're floundering without proverbial team captains (like sascha).. Is it lack of adequate coaching? Lack of a weight room? What's going on?
Posted by: Rachel | June 15, 2017 at 06:04 PM
The (corpsmen) bench has a few good players but my sense when watching them is that they are terrified of making a mistake. The result is small dancing that is timid, sometimes even apologetic. None of them seems to know how to go for broke, fix whatever has gone wrong in midair, and then sell the finish.
Posted by: Haglund | June 15, 2017 at 06:34 PM
Teuscher continues #1, after lovely Sarah ran into troubles in fouetté land. Hopefully BOTH will make Principal sooner than later.
Posted by: Jeannette | June 16, 2017 at 12:48 AM
Loved your commentary, Haglund. And love the photograph of your beautiful cat. Many thanks!
Posted by: J | June 16, 2017 at 06:51 AM
Thank you for this wonderful review of Devon! What an exciting time for her! I do hope KM will find her the right partner. There are a few potential suitors coming through the pipeline, but they will need to be given opportunity, and not left in the corps too long. Marshall W is a good example. I have no doubt we'll be seeing more of him in the near future, as well as the young man from First Position, Aran Bell, who recently joined the corps. They are both quite tall, with beautiful lines, strong technique and partnering skills. Calvin R has the potential, but needs a great deal of strengthening in order to progress.
I am heartbroken that I missed Sarah's performance last night! Awaiting your review, Haglund!
Posted by: Sophia | June 16, 2017 at 07:43 AM
Devon was wonderful. Her Odette came across as someone who had suffered, accepted her fate, but retained her pride and nobility. I was moved when she came to trust Siegfried and finally let joy overcome her.
I thought her Odile made less of an impression than her Odette - but then, that was a hard act to follow. She was always technically strong, though, which I find myself not often being able to say. I loved her last diagonal as Odile - she was so FAST! She looked truly ruthless and reveling in her triumph.
Poor Alex Hammoudi. It was just not his day. This was my first time seeing him but I've heard good things from others, so I will reserve judgment for now. He did partner Devon well, and I loved his leap off the cliff.
Devon needs to be given more than just one matinee performance!
(Also, is it just me, or are there a few heavier swans in the corps? I don't like to be mean, but it is a bit distracting.)
Posted by: AMJ | June 16, 2017 at 08:39 AM
Call me a bad mom, but I have never taken my daughters to the ballet. I consider it my time to escape, and I don't want to be distracted by them (and I don't want them distracting anyone else!) But as a native Vermonter, I felt compelled to take the little ladies to the met to see a ballerina with some Vermont training on her resume. Armed with opera glasses and a purse full of candy, we made the journey into manhattan from queens....and we witnessed a QUEEN! She was gorgeous, and beyond the technical feats and superb characterizations, she was MUSICAL. I loved her phrasing and her push/pull with the orchestra. And she held the attention of my kids!! No great impression was made on me by Siegfried, and after watching Simkin's incredible Siegfried last night, I am left wondering what heights that matinee performance could have reached. She owned that stage from start to finish.
Posted by: annisette | June 16, 2017 at 09:22 AM
I saw Sarah Lane last night and her performance was first rate. I saw most of the great ballerinas in my 60-years of attending the ballet in NY and abroad and she is in the ballpark. She needs to do more performances; she was lovely last night but I imagine there was too much stress on her one performance to prove herself. She did it for me. The last few botched fouettes were unfortunate; she should have done singles, but pressure probably forced her to include doubles. She still excelled over all in my opinion.
Daniil continues to mature and was superb (they're a great team!) His leap was spectacular. Each season it gets more exciting; if fear for him in seasons to come!
The pas de trois in the first act was also wonderful, but I want more oomph from Joseph Gorak, who has the potential to be world-class. What treasures Skyler Brandt and Cassandra Trenary are. Come on, Joey, your gorgeous smile, and great technique (what feet!) need more, well, oomph.
Alban Lendorf, in my opinion, will be the next Marcelo, his northern cool is certainly a contrast to Marcelo's Latin warmth, but he is a treasure. He danced Rothbart in the third act and came through in the most difficult role in ABT rep. Why difficult? Because no one has ever come close to Marcelo's star-turn; Alban came very close and the audience let him know it. Lendorf is cool but watch him closely, he is very deep, with a phenomenal technique. We are very fortunate to have him.
All in all, it was a terrific evening. Now, can we get Ratmansky's recreation of the original 1895 version, please? This version is not very good, it's not worthy of a world-class company (sorry, Kevin).
Posted by: Eddie | June 16, 2017 at 11:30 AM
According to the schedule, Forster has been granted one single last-minute opportunity to perform as the purple von Rothbart this season (replacing Lendorf this evening). Unfortunately, he won't get to be appreciated by anyone knowledgeable since they won't be attending due to the O/O casting....
Posted by: CMM | June 17, 2017 at 09:51 AM
Katherine Williams had similar shoulder/arm problems when she filled in as an Odelisque in Corsaire. She has pretty legs and feet but doesn't seem strong or ready enough for featured roles.
Posted by: Jessica | July 06, 2017 at 04:18 PM
ITA, Jessica. Katherine Williams is loaded with potential, both technically and theatrically. It's hard to believe that ABT hasn't concentrated on fixing her shoulders and arms.
Posted by: Haglund | July 06, 2017 at 04:22 PM